Unbeaten Oregon, Oregon State continue heated hoops rivalry

The realignment wave led to Oregon and Oregon State residing in different conferences but the most contested rivalry in college basketball history is moving forward.The Ducks and Beavers will meet for the 365th time on Thursday night when Oregon makes the drive north to face Oregon State in Corvallis. The Ducks have won the past seven meetings.Both teams are 4-0 this season but the Ducks play in the Big Ten while the Beavers are part of a soon-to-be-reconfigured Pac-12 set to be unveiled for the 2026-27 school year.Regardless of the animosity stemming from Oregon separating itself from Oregon State in athletics, both Ducks coach Dana Altman and Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle wanted to keep the rivalry going.”I think it’s good for the state,” Altman said. “So as long as Wayne wants to play and you know our administration are good with it, we’re going to play.”This is a rivalry that’s been played often. You know it’s one of the most played games ever. So I’m definitely not going to be the one to kill it. And you know I don’t think Wayne wants to either.”Beavers guard Josiah Lake II is a native of Tualatin, located south of Portland, and said the contest means a lot to everyone associated with the Oregon State program.”It feels weird that they’re not in our conference anymore,” Lake said. “But I do think the rivalry will continue. We see it as almost how they left us stranded a little bit. It makes us dig deeper, and want to win even more.”